The ad — run by Liz Cheney's group Keep American Safe — derided the unidentified appointees as the "Al Qaeda 7” asking "Whose values do they share?"

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“A defense attorney who is making the government do their job regardless of the nature of the case is making this whole country a better place,” said Graham, a military lawyer who’s currently a senior instructor at the Air Force JAG School. “I represented people as a defense attorney in the military that were charged with some pretty horrific acts and I gave them my all.”

Graham wants the White House to move the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other alleged 9/11 plotters from civilian courts into a revamped military commissions.

In exchange, the administration hopes Graham will help win Republican backing to close the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, a campaign promise of President Barack Obama.